This invention relates generally to the construction of in silico model organisms and, more specifically, methods and systems specifying operational reaction pathways and for the generation of optimal in silico models of actual organisms.
Therapeutic agents, including drugs and gene-based agents, are being rapidly developed by the pharmaceutical industry with the goal of preventing or treating human disease. Dietary supplements, including herbal products, vitamins and amino acids, are also being developed and marketed by the nutraceutical industry. Additionally, efforts for faster and more effective methods for biological fermentation and other bioprocessing of food stuffs and industrial compounds has been under development. Faster and more efficient production of crops and other agricultural products is also yet another area of intense development in the food industry.
Because of the complexity of biochemical reaction networks in and between cells of an organism, even relatively minor perturbations caused by a therapeutic agent, change in a dietary component or environmental or growth conditions, can affect hundreds of biochemical reactions. Such changes or perturbations can lead to both desirable and undesirable effects in any therapeutic, industrial or agricultural process involving living cells. It would therefore be beneficial if a particular process could predict the effects on a living system such as a cell or organism of such perturbations.
However, current approaches to therapeutic, industrial and agricultural development for compounds and processes used therein do not take into account the effect of perturbations on cellular behavior at the level of accuracy needed for efficient and economical production of products. In order to design effective methods of manipulating cellular activities for the optimization of such processes or to achieve the optimal intended effect of an applied a compound, it would be helpful to understand cellular behavior from an integrated perspective.
However, cellular behaviors involve the simultaneous function and integration of many interrelated genes, gene products and chemical reactions. Because of this interconnectivity, it is difficult to predict a priori the effect of a change in a single gene or gene product, or the effect of a drug or an environmental factor, on cellular behavior. The ability to accurately predict cellular behavior under different conditions would be extremely valuable in many areas of medicine and industry. For example, if it were possible to predict which gene products are suitable drug targets, it would considerably shorten the time it takes to develop an effective antibiotic or anti-tumor agent. Likewise, if it were possible to predict the optimal fermentation conditions and genetic make-up of a microorganism for production of a particular industrially important product, it would allow for rapid and cost-effective improvements in the performance of these microorganisms.
Thus, there exists a need for models and modeling methods that can be used to accurately simulate and effectively analyze the behavior of cells and organisms under a variety of conditions. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.